Anyone taken children aboard the Sea Princess? Taking my energetic 7 year old on board in January for his first cruise and he's not too into crafts but hear it's planned well to keep him busy. Read that soda is extra...what about in the Horizon Court for meals...any juices and pop besides milk included with meals?...and if he gets thirsty while in the care of the play area? Any suggestions besides water shoes (for those sea urchins at Princess Cay) of things to take for him? I'm assuming late dinner sitting is best so he can eat occasionally in Horizon and then go have supervised play while we eat. Then we can join up later to go to the show together. Any comments appreciated. Thanks

HI sue,
Yes, you will find juice, tea, coffee, etc in Horizon court. If you want soda that will be extra. You will all have a wonderful time on Sea Princess. The water shoes are a great idea for him. Enjoy.

As long as there are other children in his age group, he will probably have a great time. Princess Cays is the best especially with a special area made like a Pirate Ship just for children including the attention of the Children's program staff. If you are stopping at Jamaica be sure to take in Dunn's River Falls and climb it with him. Also, go to Swim with the Sting Rays in Grand Cayman, he will love it and the water is only up to your waist (on a sand bar) and he will have a life vest on. This is a must especially if you have never done it.
As far as soda, the buffet and dining room can provide regular fruit juices and in the buffet area you may also find lemonade or fruit punch available all day. Celebrity & Royal Caribbean offer a ''soda card", but I don't believe Pricness has adopted that program yet. For reasons of cleanliness, you probably won't find refreshments available in the Children's room but he may love the independence of being on vacation and not having to stay with Mom & Dad every minute.
Also, I would recommend early dining for your family (6:30 p.m.). Kids finishing dinner at 10:30 p.m. is not usually the best bet! Breakfast & Lunch on Princess are usually open seating (you go when you are ready 7:30 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.) etc. in the main dining room and of course the buffet is open continuously now offering 24 hr. dining even for an alternative evening dining venue.
Bon Voyage

I have taken five cruises on Princess, and the children's program has worked very well every time.

As other posters have noted, your son will be able to get healthy beverages like milk and juices on the Horizon Court at any time, at no charge. Princess does have some sort of card with controlled charge privileges for minors so they can get sodas, etc., but I am not familiar with the details of the plan. The card also allows them access to their room even if you are not there.

I'm of the opinion that dinner in the formal dining room is excellent training for children of school age, as well as part of the fun of a cruise. This should be no problem if you prepare your child in advance, perhaps by having family dinner at the dining room table at home a few times if you're accustomed to doing otherwise or even going out to dinner as a family at a nice restaurant to celebrate a special occasion. Princess's waitstaff bring fresh flatware for every course, so there's no need to deal with all the etiquette about which fork and which spoon to use for each course. In order to minimize the adjustment for your child, though, I would recommend whichever seating is closest to his normal dinnertime. The first seating usually is around 6:15 and the second seating usually is around 8:30.

Let us know how it goes we leave in March on the Sea Princess with a 9 year old and 4 year old. Hopefully they will find other kids to meet as it is Spring Break time. However our TA says Princess limits the number of children on each cruise.

Thanks to all who commented...and now a question about dinner sittings.

We had booked late sitting thinking most nights our son would eat earlier at the Horizon (not being a fan of sitting long at the dinner table) and we would eat at the dining room later.

I just looked at a sample itinerary and now realize if we do this he won't have the opportunity to see some of the shows. Should I change to an earlier sitting, have him eat even earlier and then go to the children's program while we eat and join together for the show afterwards?

I vote for having your son eat dinner with you in the dining room. Dinner actually is quite a production on Princess ships, so your son probably will be quite captivated by all of it -- and especially so on the last night when they have the parade of the Baked Alaska. Overall, he probably will "tolerate" it far better than you expect!